Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

San Diego Bay: How polluted in 2013?

Navy agency gives update

San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay

At their monthly meeting on May 7, members of the Oceanside Senior Anglers fishing club received an update on the Navy’s effort to increase recreational fishing and protect coastal resources.

Mitch Perdue, senior biologist from the Navy’s Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) spoke about the increased fish populations now found in military-controlled areas of San Diego Bay, Camp Pendleton, and San Clemente Island.

Several decades ago, San Diego Bay was considered an industrially polluted waterway, from which most would not eat fish caught in it. Since 1989, the Navy has monitored water conditions and worked with environmental agencies to clean up the bay’s water.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Perdue, who grew up in Escondido, said he learned to fish in local waters. He said 17 species have returned to the bay, including lobster, Calico bass, spotted bass, surfperch, and a pod of seven male sea turtles that now call the bay home (female turtles only visit from South America or Mexico.) Navy boat operators are advised by NAVFAC of the sensitive areas where the sea turtles live, in order to avoid disturbing habitat.

The Navy participates with other organizations to check toxicity levels of fish caught from around the area. When asked by a club member if Perdue would now eat fish out of the once polluted bay, he answered with an enthusiastic, “Yes.”

Perdue said special-interest groups sometimes want to “blame the big gray ships” for environmental damage to fisheries, but his organization now has scientific data to indicate the contrary. Fish counts are up. Perdue stated that when his department presents the data, “science shortens the conversation.”

NAVFAC is also in the recycling arena, responsible for dropping off clean concrete destined for the Miramar landfill into the ocean off the Silver Strand. While the exact locations of the two “fish condos” are secret, within two weeks, said Perdue, the underwater structures began to attract kelp spores, and soon younger fish and lobster flourished.

Some environmental groups want the Navy to pull up miles of buried, ocean floor cables that were used in the World War II-era for communications and ship-movement detection. Perdue said NAVFAC found that advanced eco-systems have attached themselves to the cables. Their removal would disturb natural habitats and set back the area eco-systems five years.

“We have the data to prove leaving the cables in place is a good idea,” Purdue said. “Nothing is leaking or being emitted from the cables.” Regardless, the issue is being examined in Washington, D.C., according to Perdue.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay

At their monthly meeting on May 7, members of the Oceanside Senior Anglers fishing club received an update on the Navy’s effort to increase recreational fishing and protect coastal resources.

Mitch Perdue, senior biologist from the Navy’s Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) spoke about the increased fish populations now found in military-controlled areas of San Diego Bay, Camp Pendleton, and San Clemente Island.

Several decades ago, San Diego Bay was considered an industrially polluted waterway, from which most would not eat fish caught in it. Since 1989, the Navy has monitored water conditions and worked with environmental agencies to clean up the bay’s water.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Perdue, who grew up in Escondido, said he learned to fish in local waters. He said 17 species have returned to the bay, including lobster, Calico bass, spotted bass, surfperch, and a pod of seven male sea turtles that now call the bay home (female turtles only visit from South America or Mexico.) Navy boat operators are advised by NAVFAC of the sensitive areas where the sea turtles live, in order to avoid disturbing habitat.

The Navy participates with other organizations to check toxicity levels of fish caught from around the area. When asked by a club member if Perdue would now eat fish out of the once polluted bay, he answered with an enthusiastic, “Yes.”

Perdue said special-interest groups sometimes want to “blame the big gray ships” for environmental damage to fisheries, but his organization now has scientific data to indicate the contrary. Fish counts are up. Perdue stated that when his department presents the data, “science shortens the conversation.”

NAVFAC is also in the recycling arena, responsible for dropping off clean concrete destined for the Miramar landfill into the ocean off the Silver Strand. While the exact locations of the two “fish condos” are secret, within two weeks, said Perdue, the underwater structures began to attract kelp spores, and soon younger fish and lobster flourished.

Some environmental groups want the Navy to pull up miles of buried, ocean floor cables that were used in the World War II-era for communications and ship-movement detection. Perdue said NAVFAC found that advanced eco-systems have attached themselves to the cables. Their removal would disturb natural habitats and set back the area eco-systems five years.

“We have the data to prove leaving the cables in place is a good idea,” Purdue said. “Nothing is leaking or being emitted from the cables.” Regardless, the issue is being examined in Washington, D.C., according to Perdue.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

How to Get Legal Assistance When Your Car Accident Insurance Claim is Denied?

Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.